Current Students
Current Nonprofit Leadership graduate students come from a variety of backgrounds and professional interests. Read about our current students and their motivations for pursuing the Nonprofit Leadership graduate programs.
JoAnn Bastien
JoAnn Bastien is a M.A. student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. She currently works for The Salvation Army as a data entry clerk and background check coordinator. Previously, she was the planting and lead pastor of a church in Livonia. Her desire is to establish safe communities where people can become the best version of themselves. This degree will help JoAnn move into advocacy work where she can live out this passion for others. JoAnn has been married for 32 years and she and her husband have two grown children. She enjoys running and drinking coffee on the porch with her 2-year-old shih tzu mix.
Arielle Creps
Arielle Creps is a M.A. student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. She is a passionate fundraiser and arts and culture administrator based in Michigan. Her work in the nonprofit sector focuses on developing sustainable avenues of support that allow organizations to provide equitable access to arts and culture while making a positive difference within the community at large. Arielle holds a BA in Art History and Visual Culture with a specialization in Museum Studies and a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Geography, also from MSU. In 2024, she was inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society.
Alexa Delon
Alexa Delon (she/they) is a M.A. student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. Alexa graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities with minors in Anthropology and Korean. Having experienced firsthand how nonprofits can impact one’s life, Alexa has decided to embark on this journey to be the change in someone’s life. Alexa is thrilled and honored to be a part of the first cohort for this program.
Sophie Llenos
Sophie Llenos (she/her) is a graduate certificate student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program and PhD candidate in the Geocognition Research Lab in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Michigan State University. With formal training in geoscience and anthropology, she uses community-based participatory approaches to build capacity for systemic change in historically extractive spaces – particularly in mining, museum, and outdoor recreation contexts. In collaboration with communities and nonprofit organizations, her ongoing projects include changing how mining companies and government agencies engage with Indigenous and other fenceline communities; elevating the roles of Nepali women guides in the trekking industry in Nepal; stewarding Ohio’s 1400+ mile Buckeye Trail; aiding in the rematriation of ancestors and sacred objects from museums back home to Indigenous communities; and preparing a report for Bahamian Parliament advocating against a proposed mine that would significantly harm the environment and local communities. As a professional and whole person, Sophie centers loving-kindness, reciprocity, and transparency in all she does.
Marissa Ogea
Marissa Ogea is a M.A. student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. Marissa received her Bachelor of Arts in Humanities Prelaw with concentration areas in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies from Michigan State University. Throughout her tenure at MSU Marissa spent time running passion projects on advocacy for epilepsy awareness on campus and in her hometown. She has worked alongside the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan (EFM) in their Special Events Department for the past two summers and has taken part in helping in community-building actions through events and programs hosted by the EFM.
Leslie Swanson
Leslie Swanson (she/her) is a graduate certificate student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. Leslie retired after forty years in banking where she worked primarily for JPMorgan and other legacy institutions. After running several for-profit product banking groups, Leslie decided to try her hand in the nonprofit world. She spent four years as President of Ladies of Charity of St Vincent De Paul, Oakland County Association retiring for a second time in July 2023. Leslie has a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Detroit and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Leslie wants to continue to help those that are less fortunate, and her goal is to learn more about the nonprofit world to help her be more effective in future ventures.
Andrea VanLaan
Andrea VanLaan is a is a M.A. student in the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise program. She is a motivated student and dedicated single mother to two young children. Her background is primarily in foster care, first as a domestic case manager and later as an unaccompanied refugee minor case worker. Her career goals include working with displaced refugee families, teaching important skills such as self-care and advocacy. Andrea speaks Spanish and is working towards fluency in the Persian language.